The Social Network Controversy: Part 2 – The GIGO Principle

In the first installment of this series we took an overall look at social networking and media in the marketplace as it stands today – blossoming at a vigorous rate and bringing with it socialization benefits as well as potential downsides in reference to the dissemination of personal information in the public arena.

Specifically, new concerns have been posed as to the gathering and selling of your personal information by “data mining companies.”

Eye opening to say the least for many of us, but not to panic, there are options that can level the playing field.

The first thing we all have to understand is this: The GIGO Principle (also known as “Garbage in/Garbage out”) – remember this – whatever you feed into your computer and post on a social network or media site is controllable by only one person – YOU!

You have the option to not post sensitive information, inflammatory comments, and unflattering or compromising photographs with your identity attached – that is your choice, however some sites make it difficult to determine whether your personal information is essential versus non-essential. When in doubt don’t post or share.

Information that you offer up on sites such as Facebook can be controlled, but you need some basic information to get you through all the confusing options.

The video below, produced by SophosLabs (a computer security company) probably best explains how to navigate and make informed choices about privacy and security settings… at least on Facebook, which has taken the bulk of heat on this issue since making extensive changes to their site.

There is also another option for securing your Facebook privacy, but it has taken the form of a revolt that throws out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Scheduled to take place on Monday, May 31, 2010 is Quit Facebook Day, and it is rapidly garnering followers.

Know your options, check them out and make the choices and changes you prefer, and be sure to come back for the third and final installment in this series, a humorous look at the lighter side of social networking.